Sweet Indulgence @ Ganache Chocolate

Ganache Chocolate

250 Toorak Road

South Yarra, VIC

www.ganache.com.au

It was rather a crazy afternoon that I had before I ended up with whole lot of cakes at Ganache.  Miss P and I wanted to go to L'atelier by Monsieur Truffe but we did not make it in-time due to bad traffic on the way...by the time we reached there, the door was closed.

Since both of us has a massive craving for cakes and we have been wanting to try cakes at Ganache for a while, we pin-pointed our destination.

While Miss P was busy browsing on the cake menu and refused to join the caffeine club of mine, I ordered my usual Latte to enjoy.

Then the moment of truth came...for cake ordering.  Miss P got fired up and ordered 4 cakes for 2 people...the waitress looked surprised when Miss P continued to order the third one...i thought to myself, the waitress's expression was just like when I paid a visit to Chez Dré with Teddy. I couldn't help but smiled back at her and Miss P. 

A moment after, our Cake platter arrived with 4 lovely cakes on the long plate.  They all looked very delicious and gave out a calling: "come and eat me...".

Crabilicious @ Omah's

Omah's

338-342 Burwood Road

Hawthorn, VIC

www.omahs.com

I have been thinking about giving Omah's another visit for a while, but my dear fellow diner, Miss P, has been putting Omah's aside and giving me a lot of reasons not to go.  One of her solid reason was that few months back, just before I started blogging, we visited Omah's for the renowned Chili crab (which I fell in love with it).  While Miss P, whom doesn't like getting her hands and fingers dirty, enjoyed the flavour but wasn't that keen on cracking the shell of the crab open for the juicy crab meat. What a princess, I must say! - LOL. 

Finally, after series of push back, I managed to win over the restaurant choice and got to have crab again...but it had to be cooked differently this time.  I agreed to Miss P's reasoning and we marched our way to Omah's. 

The set up of the restaurant gives out a warm and welcoming feeling.  I love the bird cage lighting décor! Very unique indeed! The staff were friendly and helpful, plus they weren't too attentive to the point that could annoy you. 

We had a bit of a photo session drama during our visit, so the photos were taken by the X100 - before the battery ran out - and my iPhone.  All the blame to Miss P whom stopped me from bringing my DSLR! 

We started off with Crispy Fried Kangkong - it was on a special menu and we didn't see it during our last visit. Plus the usual entrée menu didn't really tempt us enough to order them again...as we already tried some of them last time.  So this special menu worked out perfectly!  I asked them to bring it out as an entrée for us, which they kindly accommodated.  The Kangkong came with a dipping sauce, which was a mixed of coconut milk and some other ingredient, and I did not know what it was!  The Kangkong was blanched then tied together in a knot then coated with flour then deep fried.  The taste was refreshing and went well with the dipping sauce.  Though it was a deep fried dish, it didn't leave a greasy feeling at all. 

Yum Cha @ Crystal Jade

Crystal Jade

154 Little Bourke Street

Melbourne VIC

crystaljade.com.au

It has been a while since I had Yum Cha. It wasn't that I didn't have any craving or anything (like I ever not having any craving!  I always crave for food!!), the reason was mainly because I don't know where to go for a reasonable Yum Cha.  Call me crazy, but there is no lie! This trip was the third Yum Cha that I had in two years since I relocated here.


I was introduced to Crystal Jade a month or two ago by my colleague whom brought us here for Yum Cha Friday that we had in the office.  Thanks to my Yum Cha craving over the weekend, I dragged Teddy out with me.  Since we didn't want to drive so far, Crystal Jade turned out to be perfect destination as located in the CBD.

The first dish that we had was this lovely Ginger Prawn Dumplings.  I liked the outter texture of these dumpling as the crispiness factor from the fried was still there.  Also, I could sense the aroma of ginger in my mouth!

Yakitori-ya Frenzy @ Maedaya

Maedaya

400 Bridge Road

Richmond VIC

Once again, Miss P and I made a trip to our favourite local Japanese - the famous Izakaya style - Maedaya.  Our first encountered at Maedaya was back 2 years ago when we moved to Melbourne.  I stumbled upon Maedaya by just walking pass by and my eyes were caught up with the decor and the set up of the restaurant.  Since our first experience, Maedaya has been our local favourite and we always bring our dear visitors here.

It was a good thing that I rang up earlier and found out that they no longer take booking for smaller group.  It has to be group of 5 or more...other than that, we just have to wait and queue up.  Since that was the case, Miss P and I deliberately went there just a bit after the restaurant open to secure a good seat and get time to enjoy the food for the night. 

Maedaya is own by the sake master- Toshi Maeda.  During the past numerous visits, I always see him at the bar and chatting with the customers.  Unfortunately, on my latest visit with Miss P, he wasn't there, oh well, that doesn't really matter, our main purpose here was for food and good drinks :)

We were greeted with the usual 'Irasshaimase!' by the floor staff.  Once we seated, the Complimentary Daikon Chips with dips was served.  We then got our hands on the drink menu and decide on the drink for tonight. 

 

Miss P opted for the Santory Premium Malts, while I chose the cocktails - Choya Blush.  We both then ordered Special Sake Tasting set of the month to share.  No complaints on the drinks...they always serve up really good drink, especially the sake.  The range of beers here also quite extensive but not as many as their sake.

Chin Chin, gimme gimme more, gimme more!

Chin Chin

125 Flinders Lane

Melbourne VIC

www.chinchinrestaurant.com.au

Finally, the day has come...I managed to set foot in Chin Chin after the long battle within me (and sometimes my diner mates) about queuing up for hours when we were awfully hungry!  Since I didn't have much luck on getting a seat during dinner service, I changed my strategy to 'lunch out' at Chin Chin on weekend instead.

After fixing the date to catch up with Miss Y, whom I last met around a year ago, and sussing out that she hasn't paid a visit to Chin Chin, I had my 'lunch out' plan ready in place.  We were there around lunch time on the weekend, and to my surprise, we got a table.  They were crowded but still have few tables avail. 

Miss Y and I chattering away for a bit and ordered some drinks along the way, then with our hungry stomachs calling, we decided to start the ordering.  There were so many choices to pick from the menu and a lot of them sound delicious and we were so tempted by them.  But since there were only two of us, we limited the choices down.

Started off with the Pork Roll-Ups as an entrée.  Some actions required to assemble this dish.  Well, it was a Pork Roll-Ups, so we needed to roll it up.  It was a fun thing to do and reminded me of when I went to a Vietnamese restaurant and tried to put together a spring roll.  Apart from a little fun time,  on the taste scale, it was delicious.  I didn't add dip a lot of sauce to it since I didn't want the sauce to overpower the dish.  the combination was great, the salad gave out the freshness while the tender pork gave away the sweetness.